Air-cleaning device



A. E. SCHRAM.

AIR CLEANING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.1v6II920.

1,409,592, Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

A223? arZZ'Scfiram UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AIR-CLEANING- DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

Application filed February 16, 1920. Serial No. 358,878.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. SOHRAM,

a citizen of the United States, residing at.

St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Cleaning Devices, of which the following is a specificatlon.

This inventionrelates to air cleaning devices for internal combustion engines and more particularly. to that type of air cleaning devices using a. water bath or the like.

The invention is'especially useful on tractors and is primarily designed for separating the sand and grit and the finer dust particles from the air before it enters the mouth of the air intake of the carburetor. Devices for this purpose are now in use, some of them designed with a spiral air intake calculated to separate the heavier particles by gravity, the air supply being taken from the center of the spiral duct. This method has been found faulty because the finer dust particles capable of floating are not readily separated by gravity and are therefore sucked into the intake by the suction setup by the pistons.

An object of the present invention is to utilize both gravity and moisture for the purpose of intercepting dirt particles and the like before they enter the carburetor intake.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described wherein is used a removable dirt catching medium which can be readily replaced and which will be cheap and durable.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the class described which will be dependent for its air cleaning action upon the suction set up by the pistons in the cylinders, so that the greater the amount of impurities in the air the more active will become the air cleaning devices.

To this end the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View of the invention, and a Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the invention taken at right angles to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the cover portion of the invention, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the rotary reel alone.

In the drawings, A represents a rectangular casing comprising oppositely disposed walls 1 and 2 respectively, the interior of the casing being shown of uniform width. The lower portion of said walls flare inwardly to form an inverted conic section A, the apex of said section being formed with a circula-r boss 3, said boss being tapped for an ordinary pipe plug 4. The upper edges of the walls are formed with an outstanding continuous flange 5 completely surrounding the top opening 6 of the casing.

Fitting over said flange and said opening and projecting into the latter is the cover member B. This cover member comprises a flat cover plate 7 provided along its edges with suitable screw holes whereby it may be securely fastened by means of the screws 8 to the top of the casing. Cutting through the cover plate 7 on either side of a median line thereon is the intake opening 9 and the discharge opening 10, the latter leading to the carburetor intake not shown.

Integral with the cover plate 7 and extending downwardly therefrom and spaced parallel from opposite edges thereof are a pair of oppositely disposed comparatively deep lugs 11. The outer faces of the lugs are parallel to each other and fit closely be tween the walls. 2 of the casing. The lugs dip well into the interior of the casing and extend approximately for the major portion of the depth of the arallel portions of the side walls thereof. i t a level about midway of said depth the lugs support a horizontally disposed spindle 12, the latter being journaled at its respective ends in said lugs. The spindle is of a length to extend through and to the outer faces of the lugs and is insertable through either lug from the outer side thereof. Concentric with the center of the spindle and of comparatively large radius is the arcuate segmental upper wall 18, the wall joining the lugs 11 at a point spaced from the cover plate 7.

A lateral partition wall 14 arranged between the cover plate 7 and the wall 13 and parallel with the spindle 12, divides the upper portion of the interior of the casing into an intake chamber C and a discharge chamber D respectively, the respective down turned ends 15 of the arcuate wall being spaced from the inner faces of the walls so as to leave a liberal passage way therebetween. Thus, the chamber C is in open communication with the intake 9, and the chamber D in open communication with the outlet or discharge opening 10.

As indicated in Figure 3 of the drawings the lugs 11 together with one edge 15 of the wall 13 and the. underside of the cover plate 7 form a rectangular elongated opening, which latter is covered with a screen of fine mesh wire gauze G, the opening of the chamber C being left unobstructed. Rotatable on the spindle 12 is the skeleton reel E. The reel consists of oppositely disposed spider members 16, shown in the drawings as consisting of four outstanding arms joined together at their respective ends by integral rods 17. The spider members are centrally connected by a tube 18 which latter forms an open ended bore 19 adapted to receive the spindle 12 so that it may freely rotate thereon.

On each of the arms ofthe spider adjacent the tube 18, but spaced slightly therefrom, and parallel therewith, is the wire 20. The diameter of the reel is such as to fit somewhat loosely the curvature of the arcuate wall 13 so as to permit the presence therebetween of one or more thicknesses of cheese cloth or the like without seriously impeding the rotation of the reel.

Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, F represents in heavy dotted lines a strip of loosely woven cloth such as cheese cloth or the like strung around the reel one or more times as desired.

In the-drawings one way of applying the cloth is shown, but is to be understood that any suitable method of applying the cloth to the reel may be substituted. As shown, the cloth is started on one of the wires 20 thence directed over its corresponding rod 17, from thence to the next following wire 20 and again over its corresponding rod 17, and so on until the reel has been completely surrounded. The end of the cloth may be suitably secured as by coarse stitching or the like not shown.

In Figure 2 is indicated a finely woven cloth covering one of the panels formed in the spider, the cloth as shown lapping over the arms of the spider so as to extend into close proximity to the inner walls of the lugs 11. This may be accomplished by permltting a slight fullness widthwise of the clothso that the cloth may roll a trifle over the arms of the spider E. When in use the interior of the casing is filled with water to a level a trifle above the spindle 12. The cloth will absorb the water and by capillary attraction draw the latter up the arms of the spider so as to fill in or seal the space 21 bet-ween the spider and the inner walls of the lugs. With the cloth extending over the arms (as shown) the water is held in columns by capillary attraction by means of the fibers of the cloth, so that a moist cloth wall sep- 'arates the chambers C and D. Obviously,

tive1y air tight and dust proof seal.

any air sucked in through the intake 9 will be forced to pass through the wall in order to enter the chamber D, any loose fibers coming from the cloth being immediately caught by the gauze G, the latter serving also to catch water particles that may be carried over. After the cloth on that part of the reel projecting outof the water becomes filled with fine particles of dirt it becomes more and more impervious to the air, thereby setting up a mud wall obstruction between the chambers C and D. The suction from the cylinders, however, formsa vacuum on the suction side of the reel thereby causing the reel to rotate and thereby gradually immersing the mud clogged wall and bringing into play a new wing of the reel which has just passed through the water. The length of the arcuate wall 13 and the shape of the lugs 11 is such that there must always be one wing of the reel in play. cessive wing is in turn immersed and passes through half a revolution of the reel its accumulated dirt will be rinsed otf, thereby preparing it for A new cycle. The reel functions as a butterfly valve or a paddle wheel having pervious wings between the chambers C and D.

When the water requires renewal it may be drained off by the removal of the plug 4 and a new supply provided through the opening sealed by the plug 25.

In order to make a water tight and dustproof joint between the outer walls of the lugs 11 and the inner faces of the walls 2, a vertical groove 22 is provided for each lug, a notch 23 in the lower-most edge of each lug serving to grip a strip of wick which may be laid in the groove and tucked into the hole 24 at the top thereof. Thus, when the cover member B is inserted into the top of the casing the water will rise in the wick by capillary attraction and form a compara- While the lugs may be made to fit closely into the casing and thereby make a fairly tight joint the machining would prove expensive and the cover very difficult to remove. By making the lugs deep, an accidental low water level will not render the device inoperative.

H represents a glass imbedded in the wall of the casing whereby the level of the water may be discerned. When the cloth becomes clogged the interior of the casing may be conveniently flushed by the use of a hose directed either into the water inlet or the air intake.

I claim:

1. An air cleaner, comprising a liquid container having top, bottom and side walls, and adapted to contain li uid in the lower portion thereof, a wall having a concave ciroular under surface extending between and spaced from said side walls, and between the top wall and the liquid level, an air intake Thus, as each sucace,

opening and a suction opening in said top wall, a wall between said openings extending from said top Wall to said circular wall, and a reel formed with radial screens rotatably mounted beneath said circular wall and axially concentric with the latter, and extending below the normal liquid level, the outer edges of said screens extending to a position immediately adjacent but out of contact with the concave surface of said wall.

2. An air cleaner, comprising a liquid container, having parallel side walls and top and bottom walls, an air intake opening and a suction opening in the top wall thereof, a rotary device having outstanding screen. wings arranged symmetrically about the axis thereof, said wings extending adjacent to said side walls and being pervious to air and capable of holding water by capillary action, said device being rotatably supported horizontally so as to extend with its screen wings into the space below andbetween said openings and into the liquid, a partition wall above said rotary device for separating said openings, said wall spaced from the top wall and attached to it by a vertical partition and extending laterally downwardly in a circular arc thereby dividing the interior of the container above said rotary device into two chambers, said are being concentric with the axis of said rotary device and spaced with its concave side from the outer edges of the screens so as to just permit the thicknessof said screens to be no'n-contactingly interposed therebetween.

3. An air cleaner, comprising a liquid container formed with a removable cover member secured to the top thereof, said cover member being formed with depending frame work, extending below the liquid level of the container to divide the upper interior of the container above said liquid level into two separate chambers in close communication with the interior of the container so as to form an air passage between said chambers, a suction opening through said cover for one of said chambers,-an inlet opening through said cover for the other of said chambers, and a rotary air straining device supported on said frame work said device including screens adapted to successively block said air passage and capable of periodic immersion in the liquid responsive to the suction in said suction opening.

at. An air cleaner, comprising a liquid container having parallel side walls and top and bottom walls and adapted to contain liquid in the lower portion thereof, a segmental wall, its concave surface directed downwardly extending between said side walls and attached to said top wall by a vertical partition thereby dividing the upper interior of the container into two parts above the liquid, said segmental wall being spaced from the liquid to form an air passage, an air intake opening leading into one part of said upper interior, a suction opening leading out of the other part of said upper interior, a reel having radially disposed screens, rotatably mounted in said air passage and axially concentric with said segmental Wall, the outer edges of the screens thereof being immediately adjacent but not in contact with said side walls and the concave surface of said segmental wall, and an auxiliary screen between said air passage and said suction opening.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ARTHUR E. SCHRAM. 

